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Bob followed, a radiant smile on his face. He had always wanted to wear a muu-muu.

Chapter Eight
    Here comes the bride, all dressed in white
    T he wedding was ready to go. Mrs McGee was extremely pleased with how everything looked: flowers were in place, streamers were in place, and the weather was perfect. Marloynne looked handsome as he waited for Ashlyn. And there, by his side, was her son: her little boy who was fast becoming a strapping young man. She smiled and stepped back inside to help Ashlyn finish getting ready.
    Pete was fidgeting. He wasn’t used to wearing formal clothes, and the tightness of the shirt around his neck was killing him. King Rayon had supplied him with the outfit, but Pete would much rather have been in the casual clothes he usually wore. He had the note from his mum though, as usual, and the tiger eye crystal Ashlyn had given him on his fourteenth birthday. He never left home without them. He just wished the clothes weren’t so uncomfortable.
    Marloynne was fidgeting as well. Not because of the clothes, they felt fine. It was more because he was about to marry the absolute love of his life. Marloynne still had nightmares about being brainwashed by King Cyril the Dead-and-Buried and his evil advisor Faydon. The person he had become under their influence had been nasty and selfish, and Marloynne had a constant fear that that person would resurface one day. He spent every ounce of energy making sure that didn’t happen. He glanced at Pete. Pete pulled a face at him. Marloynne laughed, relaxing a little. He was glad to have Pete by his side.
    Smithers and Molloy were fidgeting too. They were standing next to each other. They were both dressed up very nicely, but the competition that had been brewing between them was close to boiling. Both of them were great friends with Pete McGee. The problem was, each thought the other had no right to be Pete’s best friend.
    Earlier that day, Smithers had ‘accidentally’ bumped into Molloy as he walked past. Molloy had ‘accidentally’ tripped Smithers over. Now, standing at the wedding, waiting for Ashlyn to appear and walk down the aisle, it got violent.
    Molloy sent a quick jab into Smithers’ ribs. Smithers returned fire with a little back-heel kick to Molloy’s shin. Molloy punched Smithers in the arm. Smithers gave Molloy a horsie. Molloy eyegouged Smithers. Smithers head-butted Molloy. Molloy tried to body slam Smithers and then both fell in a heap on the ground, wrestling. Tahnee groaned and tried to pull them apart, but couldn’t, what with the legs and arms flying everywhere. Luckily Smithers’ dad, Head of the King’s Guards, saw the kerfuffle and, with the help of a nearby knight, dragged the two boys out of the crowd.
    Pete had watched it all. He thought it was funny in one way, but he didn’t really clue in to why his two friends were fighting. If he had known that he was the cause of the fighting, he would have knocked them both over the head and told them to stop being such idiots.
    Ashlyn was fidgeting too, but with excitement. She had waited so long for this day, when she would declare her love for Marloynne in front of the world. Well, in front of the people who would be at the wedding, but to her it may as well have been the world.
    She had almost lost Marloynne once, thanks to King Cyril the Tasty-Worm-Food, and now she wanted to hold on to him forever.
    The finishing touches were made to Ashlyn’s veil and they were ready to go.
    Mrs McGee stepped outside the door and looked for Pete. When she saw him, she gave the signal. Pete nodded, and gave a different signal to the band conductor. The conductor nodded, gave a different, different, signal to the musicians, and the wedding was underway.

Chapter Nine
    Slipped on a banana peel and went for a ride
    M arloynne, along with the rest of the crowd, gasped when Ashlyn walked down the aisle. She looked